Sudan factions set to sign deal
'Strongest warning' urged
 |  Annan: "A grave responsibility falls on the international community." |
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 U.N. Security Council holds rare meeting outside New York on Sudan.
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NAIROBI, Kenya -- Warring factions in southern Sudan are set to sign a pledge to formally end their 21-year old civil war in front of a rare meeting of U.N. Security Council ambassadors in Nairobi.
The council wants all of its 15 ambassadors to witness the memorandum of understanding in which the Sudanese government and its southern rebel opponents will promise to reach a final peace agreement by December 31, according to Reuters reports.
The council left its New York headquarters for the first time in 14 years to go to the Kenyan capital to lend its weight to peace negotiations between the rival parties in Sudan.
The move to conclude a two-year peace process for the south of the African nation came after U.N. chief Kofi Annan called on the council to issue its "strongest warning" to forces fighting in Sudan to sign a peace deal before the end of the year.
In addition to finding an end to the civil war in Sudan's south, the council is meeting in Nairobi to end a humanitarian crisis in the western region of Darfur.
Nearly two million people have died, largely through war-induced hunger and disease, in a conflict between Sudan's Arab north and its Christian and traditionalist south.
The Darfur crisis began in February 2003, when non-Arab rebel groups took up arms to fight for more power and resources. The government responded by backing Arab militias, who have driven millions of villagers from their homes.
The United Nations has called Darfur one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, and Washington has labeled it genocide.
Twenty-one months of violence have left tens of thousands dead and driven 1.8 million people from their homes, international officials say. Some 200,000 of the refugees have fled to neighboring Chad.
Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha told the council his country was committed to peace, but the AP quoted him as saying "the war in Darfur ... has been instigated by local parties who receive support from foreign parties."
Council divisions
The council is holding out a carrot of development aid, including debt relief for all parties, once a north-south pact is sealed. But so far there is no sign of a stick other than U.S. sanctions.
There are divisions on the 15-member council. Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria object to strong language in a draft declaration condemning the atrocities in Darfur.
Earlier, the four abstained on a council resolution threatening an oil embargo if the Sudanese government failed to rein in the militias and hold them accountable for human rights atrocities.
In September, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell -- who has called the violence in Darfur genocide -- accused the four countries of valuing business with Sudan over humanitarian concerns.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting, human rights groups insisted the council take a harder line by imposing an arms embargo or threatening sanctions against the government.
"Unless they are held accountable for abuses in the south, the Sudanese authorities will continue to believe they can get away with murder in Darfur," Jemera Rone of New York-based group Human Rights Watch said.
"We very much want a peace agreement for the south because they've been at war for 21 years now and that's enough."
CNN Johannesburg Bureau Chief Charlayne Hunter-Gault contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
